tenente

Forms

tenente m or f by sense (plural tenenti)^[1] The adjective has the literary variant tegnente.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

The noun is a clipping from Italian luogotenente, the officer who took the captain's place.^{[4][5][6][7][1][8]} The compound, recorded before 1363 (Villani) for someone standing in for a high official, and in armies since 1550 for the captain's deputy, is formed from luogo “place” and the present participle of tenere.^[9][5] Nocentini takes it from Medieval Latin locum tenens (“holding the place”), which became a military rank in the 16th and 17th centuries; the same title is French lieutenant, the source of English lieutenant and German Leutnant, and Spanish lugarteniente.^[4][5]

As an adjective meaning “tenacious”, the word is the present participle of the same verb, from Latin tenentem, of teneō (“to hold, grasp”).^[1][2] De Vaan traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”), beside Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in 1611 in Melzo, where the lieutenant marches behind the company so that the soldiers follow the captain and the standard together.^[9][11][12] The adjective is older: the Old Italian translation of Brunetto Latini's Tesoro says that memory is “sì tenente” (so tenacious), and the translations of Palladius and Crescenzi call soil tegnente, firm and compact.^[12][11]

Semantic evolution

In the armies before Napoleon the tenente was a junior officer who deputised for a captain; in the modern Italian forces he ranks above the sottotenente and below the capitano and commands a platoon.^[11][5][6] Melzo already has tenente generale (1611), and tenente colonnello follows in 1641.^[9] In 1879 Tommaseo–Bellini noted that the army had so far said luogotenente, luogotenente colonnello and luogotenente generale, and now said tenente in all three.^[9][12] Tenente di vascello, the naval rank equal to an army captain, is recorded in 1887.^[9] After the First World War primo tenente was a title given to lieutenants after twelve years in the rank.^[13][6]

English uses tenente for an Italian or Portuguese lieutenant from 1929.^[14] The adjective survives in technical and literary use: a fondo tegnente is a seabed that holds an anchor, and D'Annunzio speaks of flour that will make the dough tegnente.^[11][2]

Timeline

• 1611 – Melzo uses tenente and tenente generale.^[9]
• 1641 – Tenente colonnello is recorded.^[9]
• 1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini notes that tenente has replaced luogotenente in the army.^[9]
• 1887 – Tenente di vascello is recorded in L'Arena.^[9]
• 1929 – English tenente is first recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A lieutenant: in the army, air force, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza, the officer above a sottotenente and below a capitano, who commands a plotone: Il tenente radunò i suoi uomini all'alba.^{[5][6][15][7]}
2. (nautical) In the navy, the second-in-command of a small unit.^[6][3]
3. (heraldry) A supporter: a human or human-like figure standing beside the shield as if holding it up.^[5][16]

Adjective

1. (literary, rare) tenacious, firm, compact, of soil or dough.^{[2][3][11][1]}
2. (obsolete) Holding, supporting.^[2][3]

Word family

• sottotenente
• tenenza
• tenentino

Related words

• luogotenente
• tenere
• French lieutenant

Usage notes

The ranks are tenente colonnello (lieutenant colonel), tenente generale (a rank equal to major general, kept only in some corps), tenente di vascello (a naval rank equal to an army captain) and primo tenente.^[5][6][7] The noun is masculine, and is often used in the masculine for a woman too.^[6]

Tenente is also the present participle of tenere.^[5][2] Battaglia records an obsolete tenente “tenant of a fief”, adapted from the English tenant.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 870
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 871